From Telework to Firing: How Trump Orders Could Hit IRS Workers

President Donald Trump’s directives to gut the federal workforce come days into tax filing season—the busiest time of the year for the IRS.

The IRS, like many other agencies, is figuring out how to comply while navigating compliance with its union bargaining contract that covers close to two-thirds of its employees. It’s also without a Trump-appointed commissioner and chief counsel, the only two president-nominated and Senate-confirmed positions at the agency.

During a time of transition, the IRS typically tries not to make waves. That game plan is amplified this year as Republicans look to shrink tens of billions of extra funding the agency got in 2022 to modernize and go after tax cheats and as Trump continues to float false claims about IRS hiring and armed agents.

Here’s a breakdown of some of Trump’s orders and the IRS employees who could be affected.

Telework

Telework and remote work at the IRS have been around for decades and are protected in negotiated provisions in the National Treasury Employees Union’s contract.

Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order to bring federal employees back into the office full time could potentially impact about 72% of the IRS workforce. Where these employees would work, when the IRS has cut back its space footprint by 8% since 2018, is still an open question.

An Office of Personnel Management email to federal workers Jan. 28 offered “deferred resignations” where employees were given the option to resign and continue being paid until Sept. 30. NTEU told its members not to resign in response to the email.

New Employees

Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell directed agency officials to reconsider bringing on hires who signed offer letters before Jan. 20 and have a starting date after Feb. 8.

Ezell also asked agencies last week to consider firing career employees hired in the past year.

The IRS gained around 10,000 employees in fiscal year 2024, according to National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins’s annual report earlier this month. Many of these workers were hired to help the IRS go after tax cheats and improve customer service.

Retirement

About a third of the IRS workforce is nearing retirement age, which is generally 62 years old for federal workers, according to federal worker data. And more than half are eligible to retire within six years, Collins said in her report.

The agency was on a hiring spree for over a year after it got tens of billions of extra cash. It recruited many employees to return who had either retired or left the agency. It’s unclear how these workers would be treated in the eyes of the administration, and some may choose to exit and take their expertise along with them.

Policy Jobs

Trump also revived a directive that makes it easier for his administration to fire career employees, causing the NTEU to immediately sue.

It’s not clear how many IRS employees and from which divisions would be impacted by this effort. Almost half of IRS workers focus on taxpayer services, according to the Taxpayer Advocate report. Fewer than 7% of IRS employees work in the Large Business and International Division, which was leading many of the efforts to catch some of the large companies, partnerships, and wealthy individuals who aren’t paying what they owe—a mainstay initiative during the Biden administration and one criticized by Republicans.